


Sour Cherry

by TheDeanmon



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Bakery, Baker Dean Winchester, Cake, Dean Winchester is Bad at Feelings, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Pining, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:28:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24543091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDeanmon/pseuds/TheDeanmon
Summary: Dean Winchester owns a small bakery just down the road from one of the most popular antique stores in Northeast Kansas, which means he gets a fair amount of business, especially in early summer with the retirees. He employs a meager staff of his younger brother, Sam, and his best friend, Charlie, and he owes them both at least three personal favors because lord knows minimum wage isn't enough pay to put up with his sorry ass six days a week. It's safe to say he's pretty happy with his life, he owns his dream business and gets to hang out with the two best people he knows, and - Christ - sometimes the owner of the antique store comes in for one of Dean's signature sour cherry shortbread cookies. That's always a treat.
Relationships: Adam Milligan/Samandriel, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Comments: 2
Kudos: 97





	Sour Cherry

**Author's Note:**

> This came to me in a quarantine induced haze of depression, I hope you enjoy!

When Dean worked, something was different about him. His hard edges softened and he got this look of pure, unadulterated bliss on his face. He'd grown up with a love of baking, fostered in him by his mother, Mary, and the summer afternoons he spent bent over the kitchen counter rolling out homemade pie crust or chopping peaches for Mary's famous peach cream cake. Currently, he was in the back of his bakery, cutting perfect two-inch rounds of shortbread with a silver cookie cutter that came in the collection his mom had given him for his grand opening. He placed the cookie dough on a large, lined tray and stuck the first pan on the top rack of the double oven before turning and doing the same with trays two, three, and four. He closed the oven door with a flourish, glancing over his shoulder to ensure that Sam hadn't seen. As he washed his hands, he counted to twenty and faintly listened to the chatter of his patrons from the small cafe dining room out front. He ducked between the door to get into the shop, accidentally bumping into Charlie and earning a withering look that wasn't backed by anything genuine. He smiled at her in return and checked the dessert cases. He'd need to whip up a quick batch of lemon meringue cookies and put a strawberry, mint pie out, but other than that, they seemed to be in pretty good shape. 

"Anybody special come in that I missed?" Dean asked, pulling out a pastry box to set six perfect macarons into for a customer with coiffed silver hair. 

"Cas hasn't come around yet, if that's what you mean," Sam said with a smirk. Charlie laughed and then apologized to the customer she was cashing out, but the customer was a regular and smiling too. 

"Oh shut up," Dean said, but internally he heaved a sigh of relief. Baking was his passion, but seeing Castiel was consistently the highlight of his day. Cas was the owner of the most popular antique store in Lawrence, Kansas, and was - if you can believe it - the most attractive man Dean Winchester had ever seen. He worked just down the street, in fact, they'd opened their shops around the same time, and therefore had gained popularity hand-in-hand. If Dean was particularly lucky some days, Cas would come into the bakery, hair mussed and eyes bright, and buy one or two sour cherry shortbread cookies - the very kind baking in the oven. Dean had been pining over him and his captivating, gummy smile for almost eight years now, and he had decided that today was the day. He was going to shoot his shot.

“I’m just saying,” Sam said, leaning back against the counter, “that he’s the only “special” customer you ever seem to care about.” 

“I care about all my customers,” Dean said, shooting his brother a pointed look.

Charlie snorted, “Yeah but you don’t flirt with all your customers.” 

“Oh please,” Sam said before Dean could interject, “he barely flirts with Cas. He just stares at him longingly and stutters.” 

“Is that not how guys flirt?” Charlie teased raising an eyebrow. 

As if on cue, the door opened, bell clanging joyously against the metal doorframe, and Castiel entered the shop. He smiled, “Hello, Dean.” 

_ Jesus Christ. _

He was wearing a royal purple sweater under a tan coat, and had bronze glasses resting just so on the bridge of his nose. “Hey, Cas, how’s it going?” Dean managed as Castiel approached the counter. Sam smiled, rolled his eyes, and set to sweeping the floor behind the counter. 

“It’s going well thank you - how has your day been. Good, I hope?” He rested his hands on the top of the counter just in front of a mosaic tip jar full of coins and crumpled dollars. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Dean said, “Good, busy. I have some, uh, sour cherry shortbreads in the oven if you want to stick around for a while, should be out soon.” 

Castiel raised his eyebrows, “Actually, I’m not here for that.” Dean felt his chest get tight and, from where she was boxing up cupcakes, Charlie gave Castiel a weird, questioning look. Cas offered her an awkward smile.

“Uh, okay,” Dean said. He wiped his hands on his apron and asked, “Then what can I do for you?” 

“I was wondering if you take orders?” Castiel asked. 

“Well, sure,” Dean said, relaxing a little. He’d been trying to prepare for the worst, something like  _ I’m leaving town  _ or  _ I’ve noticed you standing outside my store before I close every night this week and it’s freaking me out, leave me alone  _ or  _ I came here to tell you that I’m taking my business elsewhere because your cookies suck.  _ “What are you looking for?” 

“I was hoping to place an order for a wedding cake?” Cas said plainly. He adjusted his glasses on his nose and Dean felt his heart shatter into a thousand, tiny, bite-sized pieces. 

“A wedding cake?” Dean repeated. God, he was getting  _ married.  _ Dean really had missed his shot, I guess that’s what happens when you spend  _ eight years  _ waiting to ask a guy out on a first date.

“Yeah? I understand if not, it’s a lot to ask.” 

“No, no,” Dean said, “Um, just, uh, give me a second. You can, uh, sit, I’ll meet you.” 

Castiel smiled, “Okay, thank you.” 

Dean wasn’t sure if his legs would actually be able to carry him back into the kitchen, but, by some miracle of god, he managed. He leaned against the wall and stared at the oven. This was fine. Sure, he’d had a crush on the guy for almost a decade, and he’d self-destructed relationship after relationship in hopes of eventually asking him out, and he talked about him to literally anyone who would listen, but… who was he kidding? This was a nightmare. Sam came around the corner, eyebrows knitted together in concern. 

“Dean, are you okay?” Sam asked. His voice was pitched in the low voice he reserved for heartbreak and ten year olds, and it made Dean frown even deeper. 

He pushed off the wall, “I just, um, have to get these cookies out of the oven.” Well, at least it wasn’t a lie. Sam watched him pull out each of the trays and set them on wire racks to cool without speaking which was, in all actuality, a blessing. 

“It’s just that,” Sam began, carrying a clean, white display tray over to where the cookies were cooling, “you’ve liked him for years, it’s okay to be upset.” 

“I’m fine, Sammy. He’s just a guy, I’ll get over it,” Dean said but his knees felt weak and he could feel his eyes getting a little damp, so he squeezed his fist and swallowed hard. When he looked up, Sam was giving him this sad, empathetic look, and it made Dean roll his eyes. “Stop looking at me like that, man, I’m fine.” 

“Dean--”

“Sam.” 

They stared at each other for a second and then Dean began transferring the cookies from the cooling racks to the tray, and Sam left in silence. When Dean emerged from the kitchen, Castiel was sitting at one of the small circular tables in front of the main windows. Dean put the cookie tray in the display case and grabbed a notepad from beside the cash register before making his way to the chair across from Castiel.

Cas smiled when Dean sat down and said, “I really appreciate you doing this.” 

“Course, Cas, I’m glad to help. So, um, when do you need it by?”

“The twentieth,” Cas said, “I know it’s kind of short notice, but you were my first choice. 

Goddamn it. The look in his eyes? Cas was going to get that cake if it killed him. "It's no problem man, a week should be fine." 

Castiel grinned, "Thank you so much. I know you'll make everything wonderfully." Dean thanked him and began listening to Castiel describe the cake he wanted. 

He had decided on something fairly original, french vanilla cake with semi sweet strawberry buttercream frosting and a delicate gum paste flower petal topper. If Dean could bribe Sam and Charlie into an all-nighter, bribed with pizza and a paid day off, they could probably knock it out in a night. Start work a couple days before, a day to chill, delivery and done. It was simple, it was to the point, and it was something Dean could focus on when he got so jealous his hands shook. When Castiel left the shop with a wave and courteous smile Charlie had the audacity to ask if Dean wanted to close up for a couple of hours. He did, but instead he laughed and headed to the kitchen to start some bread dough. 

The week following Castiel's order was, frankly, hellish. The actual cake making itself wasn't too bad -- the gum paste flowers were kind of a bitch but that comes with the territory -- no, it was the crushing effect that Dean's relegation to The Friend Zone had that crippled him. Scorned by the loss of a man he'd never have, and to top it all off, Dean would be in attendance of the ceremony with a front row seat. That being said, it was one of the best cakes he'd ever made. Love and loss are powerful motivators.

Love? Well, maybe.

_ Unreciprocated. _

The morning of the wedding was miserable, to say the least. Dean woke up at dawn and departed shortly after to head to the bakery and add any finishing touches to the cake before the delivery at 3pm to Saint Elizabeth's on the corner of 5th and Lewis. He'd had two Jack and cokes by 2:30 and was feeling pretty good when Sam came by with the delivery van they parked down at their Uncle Bobby's shop. Just a light buzz to carry him through to the open bar at the reception that Castiel had promised with a laugh when he came in the previous day to purchase a few sour cherry shortbreads. 

Saint Elizabeth's was a stately Catholic church 20 minutes from the bakery with a reflection pond and a narrow footbridge out back. When the van pulled to a stop at the towering cinder brick building, Dean recognized Castiel's gold Lincoln Continental out front and sighed so heartily that Sam asked if he needed to chill in the car for a few minutes. 

He did. 

After a few moments, they unloaded the cake and carried it to a large banquet room at the back of the building and began to shift it onto the vintage orange cake stand Castiel had left out for them. They carried it to the center of a large oval table and positioned it fashionably in the center before making their way around to the front room where Dean identified Castiel fixing a boutineer to the jacket of a young man with light hair. 

"Hey, Cas," Dean greeted easily, smiling despite himself when Castiel turned around and shot him a slightly frantic but warm smile.

"Hello Dean, Sam," he said, "how was the drive over?" 

"Fine, no problems, we set the cake up in the banquet hall. Center table okay?"

"That's great, thank you," Castiel turned his attention back to the man in front of him and he said, "Alfie, go finish up, I'll be in soon." The man nodded, offered Dean and Sam a wave, and then retreated down a grandiose hallway. Castiel approached the Winchesters and sighed. 

"Stressful day?" Dean joked, reveling in the snort Castiel produced as a response. "You seem to have your hands full, can we do anything to help?" 

Castiel smiled at him, looking soft and welcoming and Dean had to remind himself that Castiel was getting married in… hell, a little over half an hour. "You're very sweet," Castiel said, missing the look Sam gave Dean that was equal parts sympathy and kicked puppy. "But I can handle it. If you'd like to stay for the ceremony and reception, you're more than welcome to. You can head into the sanctuary, there are already some guests, just be sure to sit on the right side of the room." 

"Sure thing," Sam said with a grin, "Thanks, oh, and congratulations." 

Cas raised an eyebrow, "Thank you." He looked at Dean, smiled, and said, "Thank you guys again for making the cake. I don't know what I'd do without you." 

Dean's heart did a stupid flip at that, and he prayed the ceremony would begin ahead of schedule so he could get properly hammered at the reception. "'Course," Dean said, "happy to do it for you." 

Castiel looked down slightly, smiled, and excused himself before departing down the same hallway Alfie had. "You okay, man?" Sam asked quietly. 

Dean stared after Cas and then sighed, "I'm just ready to get this over with." 

Sam clapped him on the shoulder and ushered him to the sanctuary. The room was decorated simply for a Catholic church, with light pink and orange flowers along the pulpit. Sam and Dean settled into the back pew, and gradually, the room filled with guests, increasing in increments of two and three. Before long, music swelled and an older couple, Dean assumed were Castiel's parents, entered the room and took their seats, followed by another older couple and then the blonde whom Castiel had been consulting with. He made his way to the altar, sweating and grinning and stood, hands clasped in front of himself. Sam and Dean shared a look, recognition blooming across their respective features when Castiel entered shortly after, a woman in a peach colored dress on his arm. 

Dean beamed. Castiel wasn't the groom. He was the best man. 

_ Jesus Christ _ , there  _ was _ a God! 

When Castiel and the woman split to stand on either side of the altar, Cas searched the crowd, smiling when he met eyes with Dean who felt his heart constrict. He watched Castiel the entire time. 

It was a beautiful ceremony. 

The banquet hall was dimly lit for the reception, and music pulsed through the room. Dean hadn't gotten the chance to talk with Castiel yet, but he had decided that he was going to ask the other man to dance, and a decision is half the battle. The cake had been a major hit among not only the guests, but the grooms - Alfie and Adam - who had approached him shortly after the cake had been cut and offered their gratitude. 

Dean casually made his way over to the bar, glancing around smoothly to locate Sam who was across the room, using ASL to talk with one of the pretty grooms-maids. Dean smiled and ordered a whiskey, leaning against the counter in wait of his drink. He turned slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

"Dean," Castiel said with a smile, "I thought I might find you here." 

Dean chuckled, "Um, yeah." Cas leaned next to him, tilting his head to think for a second before ordering a glass of rosé. "So, Alfie's your…" 

"My brother," Castiel said, "my youngest one. It's not exactly fair that he's getting married before the rest of us, but," he made eye contact with Dean and it was enough to make him shiver, "we're all so happy for him. Adam's a great guy." 

"You're a pretty great guy yourself," Dean said before he could catch himself. He buried his embarrassment in his glass, but didn't miss the shy smile unfolding on Castiel's perfect mouth. 

"As are you," Castiel said. He cleared his throat. "Hey, Dean? I know it's kind of straightforward, but would you like to dance with me? I'll confess that, well, I've had a bit of a crush on you for quite some time now. When Alfie made me his best man you were the only one I considered for the cake, but it was somewhat of a ploy just to get you here." Dean stared at the other man, stars in his eyes as he took in the flattering blush spreading over Castiel's nose and the rise of his cheeks. 

"No way," Dean said wistfully and Castiel gave him a questioning look. "Cas, I've liked you for years now." Cas blinked and then laughed and extended his hand. Dean looked at it and then accepted the offering, abandoning his drink and Castiel's untouched rosé at the bar as they headed to the part of the floor where Adam and Alfie and concluded their first dance. 

Castiel rested his hand on Dean's shoulder, letting Dean lead with all the confidence of a middle schooler. Dean was minutely aware of Sam's eyes on them, kind and joyful from across the room, but he focused on Castiel's eyes and the closeness between them. "I can't believe I wasted so much time," Castiel confided with an embarrassed laugh, "It really did just start with the sour cherry cookies, but the more I came in the more it was about you." 

Dean laughed, "The cookies were my foot in the door." Cas laughed too. "I'm not gonna lie to you, man, I thought this was your wedding." Cas gave him a look that was almost amusement. "I was a little crushed."

"I guess I should've been clearer. I wanted you as a date," Castiel said happily. 

"Speaking of that," Dean began, "would you mind if I took you out sometime? To dinner." 

"I'd love to go out with you," Cas answered. Dean grinned, and let Castiel continue, "of course, I'd be up for anything." 

"Good to know," Dean said. 

Now that he had Castiel this close, he never wanted to let him go. He tightened his hold just slightly on Castiel's waist, pleased when it encouraged Castiel to press even closer and lean his head against Dean's own. Dean could feel Castiel's breath, warm against his jaw and the side of his neck. Dean wondered offhandedly if he would be allowed to kiss him. He wondered if he could even manage the action without melting. 

He decided it couldn't hurt to try. 

"Cas?" He began. 

"Hmm?" Castiel lifted his head and met eyes with Dean. 

"Would it be alright if I kissed you?" 

Castiel blinked and then smiled and leaned in, placing a kiss to Dean's mouth. It was everything Dean had expected it to be. Warm and special, tasting of cake and just faintly of alcohol. Castiel gripped Dean's shoulder with one hand and, with the other, cupped his jaw. Dean felt almost paralyzed by the sensation of it. The kiss coupled with the heat transferring from Castiel's chest to Dean's through their proximity was mesmerizing and captivating and when Castiel pulled back with a sheepish grin, Dean blurted the only thing he could think of to say. 

"God bless sour cherry shortbread." 


End file.
